Universal Credit LCWRA - any work allowed at all ? — Scope | Disability forum
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Universal Credit LCWRA - any work allowed at all ?

Cooper1
Cooper1 Community member Posts: 10 Listener
edited February 2021 in Universal Credit (UC)
Hello, im new to the site, so i hope im posting this in the right place ?  I wondered if anyone could answer by experience or knowledge what the situation is with doing abit of work under UC if you have been placed in LCWRA ?  I know that under ESApeople are allowed to do permitted work but ive found confliciting information regarding UC.  I have asked via my journal but have not yet received a reply,the helpline also were unable to answer.  I am worried now that my request for info may be construed as saying imfit for work ??  Allim talking about isperhaps a few hours aweek(i dont have anything in mind) because so many jobs are now being based at home.  I was just thinking about keeping my mind active as i live alone and have been isolated for the past year and just want to find out if it is at all possible,
Can anyone help please, or shareany experience.  I just cant seem to find out any answers.    Thank you
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  • Cooper1
    Cooper1 Community member Posts: 10 Listener
    Hello, im new to the site, so i hope im posting this in the right place ?  I wondered if anyone could answer by experience or knowledge what the situation is with doing abit of work under UC if you have been placed in LCWRA ?  I know that under ESApeople are allowed to do permitted work but ive found confliciting information regarding UC.  I have asked via my journal but have not yet received a reply,the helpline also were unable to answer.  I am worried now that my request for info may be construed as saying imfit for work ??  Allim talking about isperhaps a few hours aweek(i dont have anything in mind) because so many jobs are now being based at home.  I was just thinking about keeping my mind active as i live alone and have been isolated for the past year and just want to find out if it is at all possible,
    Can anyone help please, or shareany experience.  I just cant seem to find out any answers.    Thank you
  • janer1967
    janer1967 Community member Posts: 21,964 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi there 

    Yes you can do permitted work and claim UC and LCWRA there is a set allowance which is different if you claim the housing element 

    I'm not 100% sure of what amount you can earn but it us mentioned in other posts on this subject or maybe Google permitted work allowance 

    Other members will know the amounts 
  • chiarieds
    chiarieds Community member Posts: 16,007 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi @Cooper1 - & welcome to the community. There's a 'Work allowance' with UC, which depends on whether you get any help with your housing, or not. If you get help with your housing costs this is £292 per month; if you don't get help with housing costs this is increased to £512 per month as can be seen here: https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit/how-your-earnings-affect-your-payments
    I hope that helps. :)

  • Lisatho11987777
    Lisatho11987777 Scope Member Posts: 5,911 Disability Gamechanger
    @cooper one I am on universal credit and I am allowed to work and I am limited capacity to work  you just have to let them know and they will alter your benefit to what you earn 

    You are allowed to earn so much before it affects your  benefits  this is from my own experience 

    Others will reply 
  • Cooper1
    Cooper1 Community member Posts: 10 Listener
    Thank you somuch,no one seemstoknow this at Universal Credit, iknow they are very busy at the moment.  Is there a limit to hours etc ?  I do get housing element so would have the lowerworkallowance.  
  • chiarieds
    chiarieds Community member Posts: 16,007 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi - I replied on your other post, then noticed this one.
    There's a 'Work allowance' with UC, which depends on whether you get any help with your housing, or not. If you get help with your housing costs this is £292 per month; if you don't get help with housing costs this is increased to £512 per month as can be seen here: https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit/how-your-earnings-affect-your-payments

  • Lisatho11987777
    Lisatho11987777 Scope Member Posts: 5,911 Disability Gamechanger
    I was working full time and got some help with rent but your better off doing part time I am not sure how much you can earn  before it affects your money  the more you work the less help you get from universal credit 

    My friend works 14hrs and gets most of her universal credit  but its worth giving them a ring to  make sure 
  • Cooper1
    Cooper1 Community member Posts: 10 Listener
    Yes thanks, sorryi wasconfused where to post and then realisedthere were categories to post under.  I couldnt work out if i could delete one and leave the other running.  Thank yousomuch for your help.
  • chiarieds
    chiarieds Community member Posts: 16,007 Disability Gamechanger
    You're welcome, & don't worry about 2 posts, it doesn't matter at all. :)
  • Lisatho11987777
    Lisatho11987777 Scope Member Posts: 5,911 Disability Gamechanger
    @Cooper1 I  have just looked back on my journal now I am not working my rent is 500.00 and uc pay 450.00 

    When I was working full time depending on how many hours I worked  some months they paid 300.00 and amounts between the lowest they paid was150.00 
  • Cooper1
    Cooper1 Community member Posts: 10 Listener
    I did call today and the person on the phone worried me really because he said to me that if i had been assessed as having limited capability to workand thenwantedto work theni could be deemed as beingfit for work.  I had to reiterate thati was just asking a question whether you could tryjust a few hours ? and it would seem by this that you arepermitted to do something, but they are sayingdifferent.. Im very confused

  • Lisatho11987777
    Lisatho11987777 Scope Member Posts: 5,911 Disability Gamechanger
    @cooper1 I was allowed to earn 234.00 before it affected  my benefits thats going off my own uc journal 
  • Cooper1
    Cooper1 Community member Posts: 10 Listener
    Thanks so much for that, and you were lcwra ?then,

  • Lisatho11987777
    Lisatho11987777 Scope Member Posts: 5,911 Disability Gamechanger
    @cooper1 yes thats correct 
  • Tori_Scope
    Tori_Scope Scope Posts: 12,488 Disability Gamechanger
    Welcome to the community @Cooper1 :) Don't worry about posting twice. I've merged your threads so that you can see all of the answers in one place. 
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  • Ross_Alumni
    Ross_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,652 Disability Gamechanger
    Welcome to the community @Cooper1

    Hope you are finding your way around the website okay :) 
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  • Adrian_Scope
    Adrian_Scope Posts: 10,821 Scope online community team
    edited January 2021
    Hi @Cooper1, it's great you're looking into any work you may be able to do to keep your mind active and help with isolation and I hope you find something suitable.

    With regards to your question: yes, you can work while on UC LCWRA. On ESA you used to have to ask permission to do 'permitted work' but this isn't the same with UC. It's worth keeping in mind that if the work you do contradicts your reason for claiming LCWRA it can impact you at reassessment.

    When you start work, you would update your UC account online via Homepage > Report a change > Work and earnings. They would then receive any wage details direct from HMRC so you wouldn't need to update them each month. 

    The 'work allowance' mentioned by others is an amount you can earn before deductions to your UC begin. If you claim help with housing costs/rent your work allowance will be £292 per month, if you don't receive any help with housing costs/rent your work allowance will be £512 per month. 

    After this amount they lower your UC by 63p for every £1 that you earn. 

    I hope that helps, but if you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask. :)
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  • Adrian_Scope
    Adrian_Scope Posts: 10,821 Scope online community team
    I was working full time and got some help with rent but your better off doing part time I am not sure how much you can earn  before it affects your money  the more you work the less help you get from universal credit 

    My friend works 14hrs and gets most of her universal credit  but its worth giving them a ring to  make sure 
    This isn't quite accurate. With UC, the more you work the higher your overall income will be, just less will be from UC. Of course there does need to be some consideration for loss of other benefits such as help with prescriptions, council tax support, free school meals etc though. 

    @cooper1 I was allowed to earn 234.00 before it affected  my benefits thats going off my own uc journal 
    The amount you can earn before deductions is currently £292 is you receive help with rent costs and £512 if you don't receive help with rent costs. These amounts are set to change to £293 and £515 in April 2021.
    Community Manager
    Scope
  • Cooper1
    Cooper1 Community member Posts: 10 Listener
    Thankyou so much for the information, i really appreciate the support. 

  • Lisatho11987777
    Lisatho11987777 Scope Member Posts: 5,911 Disability Gamechanger
    @Adrian_Scope can I claim that bit of extra money back then  the information I was giving was off my journal I only stopped working in 2020 

    My journal said I was only allowed to earn 234 .00 

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